03-02-10

Yesterday we went a little farther afield than we have so far to play in the desert. We drove north from "Q" to the small town of Bouse and then got on a wide, graded dirt road that goes further north across the flat country toward the Buckskin Mountains. When we came to a "Y" in the road with a large flat area we pulled off to allow Becky, Dennis and David and Cindy to off load there rigs. From there we followed Lincoln Ranch road even further north. Eventually I got bored with the dirt freeway and turned onto a trail going west we followed it to its end and got out to check some holes and a shallow tunnel. While we were there Patti found the "macro" setting on her camera and took some nice flower pictures.

We headed back to the road and went a little further when I noticed a group on wild Burros to our left. We pulled off and drove toward them a short distance then stopped to get some pictures. It was feeding time for this little one. After checking out the donkeys for a while we continued on. Eventually we came to a wash with many tire tracks in it. We turned northwest into the wash and followed it for a while. On the right side there were some caves so we stopped to investigate them. I decided that they were Javelina holes as there was a lot of what looked like pig droppings in and around them. David had been in the area before and mentioned a very tight canyon somewhere in the left bank of the wash. As we drove along we noticed a gap in the left wall with ATV tracks going into it. I turned in and was able to only go a short distance. From there we had to walk. The crack got narrower and narrower until everyone except for Missy and I got claustrophobic and had to stop. Missy and I berated them for there timidity and continued on.
Eventually we reached the end and to our surprise we saw a pile of donkey droppings. I don't know how the burro got there or if it dropped its load through the opening in the roof. While Missy and I were following the crack the others were investigating another side channel they found a bee hive in a hole in the wall. Apparently the boys were acting up and had to have a time out. I had to have help backing out of the crevasse. Eventually we were able to extricate Clifford from the gap and continued on our way. After a couple of miles we came to the Bill Williams Rives. We had fun playing in the river. When we were all across the river we stopped at a wide spot on the sandy bank for lunch. After lunch we headed back across the river and continued our adventure.

On the way back down the wash we turned off on a trail that followed a pipeline going south. We drove over hills and through gullies for a while.
Every now and then we had to stop to discuss directions.

Eventually we found our way to Swansea town site and copper mine. We wandered around the site for a while checking it out and taking pictures.



There were many deep vertical shafts. This one was 1000 feet deep.

If you want more information on Swansea town sight here is a link for you;
http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/cultural/swansea.html

I want to thank becky and Missy for there Photographic contribution to this blog.

Here is the Map;